MANILA, Philippines--War films have been getting the cold-shoulder treatment from Hollywood since the 2001 terrorist attacks. At the 82nd Oscar Awards Sunday (Monday at 9 a.m. here), however, Tinseltown finally acknowledges that it can no longer look the other way. In fact, five of the 10 films that made it to the Academy?s expanded Best Picture field tackle not only the horrors of war, but the deleterious effects of the global economic crisis, as well.

How is this year?s battle for the coveted golden statuettes shaping up? Except for Michael Hoffman?s Leo Tolstoy drama, ?The Last Station,? we?ve seen all the entries in the feature-film, acting and directing categories, and it looks like Jeff Bridges (?Crazy Heart?), Christoph Waltz (?Inglourious Basterds?) and Mo?Nique (?Precious: Based on the Novel ?Push? by Sapphire?) are headed for Oscar glory in the Best Actor, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress categories.

But, everybody is most curious about how the races for Best Actress and Picture will play out: Will the rare dramatic portrayal of rom-com queen, Sandra Bullock (?The Blind Side),? beat the exceptional comedic turn of Meryl Streep (?Julie & Julia?)? And, will Kathryn Bigelow (?The Hurt Locker?) beat her former husband, James Cameron (?Avatar?), and become the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar?

Contrasting clues

The competition in those fields seems tight, but the choices of some 30 award-giving bodies (the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globes, Bafta, National Board of Review, Golden Satellite, etc.) and critics? groups (New York, Los Angeles, National Society of Film Critics, Critics? Choice, etc.) offer contrasting clues:

The magnificent ?Hurt Locker? was chosen Best Film by 16 groups. Ironically, Jason Reitman?s brilliant economic-recession comedy, ?Up in the Air,? did even better than Cameron?s sci-fi blockbuster?it won six, while ?Avatar? earned only two nods (from the Globe and the NYFC Online). Bigelow and Cameron?s war-themed productions have nine nominations each.

For Best Director, Bigelow was the runaway winner (she won 23), while Cameron and Clint Eastwood (?Invictus?) got one each (from the Globes and the National Board of Review, respectively). While we agree that Bigelow should win in the directing field, our choice for Best Picture is Cameron?s groundbreaking movie, because it seamlessly fuses pioneering technological innovation, thematic pertinence, edge-of-your-seat entertainment, and commercial viability. Whether you like Cameron or not, it?s hard to deny ?Avatar? its due.

Joel and Ethan Coen?s ?A Serious Man,? John Lee Hancock?s ?The Blind Side,? Neill Blomkamp?s ?District 9,? Lone Scherfig?s ?An Education,? Quentin Tarantino?s ?Inglourious Basterds,? Lee Daniels? ?Precious,? and Pete Docter and Bob Peterson?s ?Up? complete the list.

Other Oscar-worthy movies last year: Eastwood?s ?Invictus,? Kenny Ortega?s ?This Is It,? John Hillcoat?s ?The Road,? Jane Campion?s ?Bright Star,? Pedro Almodovar?s ?Broken Embraces,? Alejandro Amenabar?s ?Agora,? Marc Webb?s ?(500) Days of Summer,? and Jim Sheridan?s ?Brothers.?

Like Bigelow, Waltz?who?s charmingly sinister in ?Inglourious Basterds??also has 23 wins, and is a shoo-in for the supporting actor prize. Woody Harrelson (?The Messenger?) and Christian McKay, who played the iconic director of ?Citizen Kane? in ?Me and Orson Welles,? have one citation each. But, the latter didn?t even make the Academy?s final five slots, which also include Matt Damon (?Invictus?), Stanley Tucci (?The Lovely Bones?), and first-time nominee, Christopher Plummer (?The Last Station?).

Frightfully abusive

Mo?Nique (with 19 wins), who portrays the frightfully abusive but ultimately sympathetic mother in ?Precious,? is likewise hard to beat in the supporting actress category?although the performance of the scene-stealing Penelope Cruz in ?Nine? is nothing to scoff at.

In contrast, Anna Kendrick (four wins) and Vera Farmiga (one) display more substance than spectacle in ?Up in the Air.? Maggie Gyllenhaal is ?Crazy Heart?s? voice of reason, but the actress isn?t really tasked to do anything extraordinary in Bridges? dramatic showcase.

In the Best Actor derby, a win from anyone other than Jeff Bridges, who?s outstanding as an aging and constantly inebriated country singer in ?Crazy Heart,? would be deemed an upset. Jeremy Renner may have bagged the most number of trophies (eight) this awards season, but five of Bridges? six wins were substantial: The Golden Globe, SAG, LAFC, NYFC Online, and Critics? Choice. Colin Firth (?A Single Man?) has five, George Clooney (?Up in the Air?) four, and Morgan Freeman (?Invictus?) two.

The Best Actress race is proving to be the most exciting, because its top two contenders?Meryl Streep (?Julie & Julia?) and Sandra Bullock (?The Blind Side?)?are well-loved by the Academy?s 5,777 voting members. Interestingly, the Golden Globe-winning actresses are nominated in genres they?re not known for: Comedy for Streep, and drama for America?s Sweetheart.

Note that, while Meryl collected nine, Sandra only had three?including one from the Critics? Choice, where she tied with Streep! With eight wins, it was really Mulligan who gave Meryl a good fight (Sidibe has two). But, with Helen Mirren (?The Last Station?) in their midst, it isn?t impossible for the great actress to pull off an upset.

Who should win? Both Streep and Bullock delivered two memorable portrayals last year (?It?s Complicated? and ?Julie & Julia? for the former, and ?The Blind Side? and ?The Proposal? for the latter). Ironically, Sandra?who is tipped to win the Oscar?may have also given 2009?s Worst Performance by an Actress (and is heavily favored to ?win? a Razzie tonight for her confoundingly silly turn in ?All About Steve?).

Meryl, on the other hand, is on her 16th Oscar nomination. But, the last time she actually won an Academy Award for Best Actress was for 1982?s ?Sophie?s Choice??three years before fellow nominee, Mulligan, was born!

Hard to ignore

Our pick: Streep, who can play a rock and still be hard to ignore. In ?Julie & Julia,? the scene where her childless character learns about her younger sister?s pregnancy is movingly instructive?and deftly demonstrates why she is Hollywood?s Greatest Living Actress!

Outstanding performances that didn?t make the Oscars? final cut: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Charlize Theron (?The Road?), Marion Cotillard (?Nine?), Streep (?It?s Complicated?), Rachel Weisz (?Agora?), Robert De Niro (?Everybody?s Fine?), Michael Stuhlbarg (?A Serious Man?), Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman (?Brothers?), Julianne Moore (?A Single Man?), Peter Capaldi (?In The Loop?), Melanie Laurent (?Inglourious Basterds?), Emily Blunt (?Young Victoria?), and Nicolas Cage (?Bad Lieutenant?).